Customers to see higher water, sewer rates

Montgomery residents’ first bills will reflect increase.

Customers who receive water and sewer services through Montgomery County can expect to see rate increases reflected in their first bills of the year.

The county announced in November that the combined water and sewer rate would go up by about an average of 14 percent this year.

Rates will jump another 5.6 percent on average starting in 2019 and each following year through 2022.

This means the average residential customer in the county will end up paying about $8 a month or $24 more in their quarterly bill, according to county estimates.

The Montgomery County system provides drinking water and fire prevention for about 250,000 residents. Most customers are in Centerville, Harrison Twp., Kettering, Miami Twp., Riverside, Trotwood and Washington Twp.

Over the last eight years, the county has had an average rate increase of 1.25 percent per year, which is a lower increase than the state average of four percent per year.

Montgomery County Environmental Services spokeswoman Brianna Wooten said this was a conscious decision.

“When the Great Recession hit, we were trying to figure out how we could help people. You know people were having trouble staying in their homes at that time, so we decided to hold down water rates until things turned around,” Wooten said. According to Montgomery County’s Environmental Services director, Pat Turnbull, the rate structure has also changed in the new year. The rate has gone from 20 percent fixed charges to 40 percent and 80 percent consumption-based charges to 60 percent.

Because of the change in ratio, those with bigger meters will pay more.

“For instance,” Wooten said, “hospitals or a business that have bigger needs and cost more to maintain will pay an appropraite amount for the larger demand they place on the system.”

The county maintains 1,400 miles of water mains and 1,200 miles of sewer mains. The increase will fund maintenance and new construction of these water and sewer lines, county officials said.

Water main breaks have been increasing — there have been more than 50 in Montgomery County since the beginning of the year. On a single day last week, there were 19, said Wooten.

This is not only because of the cold weather but because of outdated infrastructure.

Officials estimate about $750 million, generated from the rate increase, will be spent over the next 20 years to maintain and replace aging portions of that infrastructure.

A project that is in the planning stages is the upgrading of the sewer system on Dryden Road in Moraine. It is scheduled to be finished in Dec. 2021.

“We are just reaching that point — similar to the roof on your house — when you’re having to patch leaks all the time, you get to a place where it’s time to put a new roof on,” Turnbull said.

Wooten said it is important for customers on autopay to be aware of the change, so that they can anticipate and plan for the change in their bank accounts.